Medical and surgical procedures performed on farm animals by veterinarians and farmers require appropriate restraint, analgesia, and aftercare that vary significantly by jurisdiction and practice.
On-farm veterinary welfare requires that procedural pain be managed with the same diligence applied to companion animal medicine. A cow receiving a caesarean section is having major abdominal surgery -- local anaesthesia addresses acute procedural pain but post-operative NSAID analgesia addresses the hours of pain that follow. A pig with an umbilical hernia repaired without any anaesthetic is experiencing surgical pain without mitigation. The barriers are cost, tradition, and the mistaken belief that farm animals feel pain less intensely than companion animals -- a belief unsupported by comparative neuroscience. Farm animal welfare progress requires normalising appropriate analgesia for all procedures as a professional standard rather than an exceptional choice.